CHL – Ontario Hockey League
Kalle Loponen
Drafted – 2019, Round 7, #204
Age-18, Right handed Defenceman, 5’11, 187lbs
Kalle Loponen joined the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL for this season, having spent last season in the Mestis which is Finland’s AHL. Considering Loponen had what were very impressive numbers in a professional men’s league in Finland, it was an interesting choice to see him move over to North America to play junior.
Loponen had a rough start to life in the OHL, going pointless in his first 5 games where Sudbury scored 24 goals. He finally managed a pair of powerplay assists against a bottoming Peterborough team in his sixth game.
Once Loponen finds his feet, it would be a surprise not to see him begin to really find his stride considering his success at a professional level already.
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev
Drafted – 2018, Round 3, #83
Age-19, Centre, 5’10, 163lbs
SDA, who was some kind of enigma, looked very impressive as a late cut from the Toronto Maple Leafs camp in 2018, somehow faltered in 2018/19. He looks to be doing his best to turn that tide this year and prove why Toronto gave a third round pick an NHL contract before he even began his D+1 year.
SDA has jumped out of the gates scoring in all games this season, with four of those games being multi point games, placing him on 14 points (2-12-14) from just 5 games played. On a top line with fellow Leafs prospect, Nick Robertson, SDA is showing his high-end offensive talent and doing his best to drag a poor Peterborough team, kicking and screaming, into some level of competitiveness.
Probably most impressive is that SDA has been showing some consistency, being one of the three stars in four of his five games so far this season. He has also been a net positive goal differential player in all but one of his games so far.
Nicholas Robertson
Drafted – 2018, Round 2, #53
Age-18, Left Winger, 5’9, 164lbs
Nick Robertson, just like line mate SDA, has exploded in offensive production for the start of his 2019/20 season. Robertson has tallied 11 points (7-4-11) in 5 games. Robertson and SDA’s games complement each other perfectly, with SDA assisting on six of Robertson’s seven team leading goals.
Robertson currently holds the title of the Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect outside of the NHL or AHL. This season couldn’t have begun better and with SDA riding shotgun, the Peterborough Pete’s are a team Leaf fans should be keeping tabs on all season.
Let us know who you’re most excited for this season and who you expect not to make the impact they could.